Aliança Catalana also drinks from the PSC: the three socialist signings

BarcelonaJust a year ago, the PSC spokesperson in Tiana, Miquel Santiago, announced his resignation. The decision took the local group by surprise, as they had planned for him to be the candidate in 2027 after being number 2 in the previous elections and for the party leader to step down due to poor election results, which confirmed the victory of an independent party, now with an absolute majority. Little did the socialists of this Maresme locality imagine that a year later Santiago would propose himself to be the leader of Aliança Catalana, a party at the opposite end of his beliefs.

While awaiting the local executive committee to be formed and the leadership to approve his candidacy, keeping in mind that all decisions go through the filter of the Secretary of Organization, Oriol Gès, Santiago does not hide his desire to lead the list in this municipality near Barcelona after joining the Islamophobic party a few months ago. "It is true that I am interested and very excited to be the mayoral candidate for Tiana, but the decision must be approved by the local executive committee when it is constituted in June and validated by the regional committee and the leadership," he explains in conversation with ARA.

Santiago explains why he left the socialist group. "When you are not happy in a place, you can stay or leave, and I chose the second option, but without making any statements or reproaches. I am very grateful to the PSC for giving me the opportunity to learn how municipal politics works," he explains. He stepped down, he explains, because "ideologically" he did not feel comfortable: "When I came to live in Tiana, I wanted to get involved in the town's life and I joined the PSC because they proposed it to me, but I didn't feel represented and I defended motions that I didn't agree with, although there are things I like about the party, as well as other formations."

He has rapport with Aliança. "It is with whom I feel closest and most comfortable, I agree almost 100% with their pillars and it gives me hope that it will drive change," he remarks. As an example, he is very critical of Islam, which he considers to be "a politico-religious idea" that he does not like "because a person who is homosexual does not have the freedom to be so".

In any case, he makes it clear that he has not taken the step due to the rise of Silvia Orriols' party, to which the ARA surveypredicted great growth in future Catalan elections: it would multiply its current deputies by ten and would be in a range of between 20 and 22 deputies, with the support also of 5% of hitherto socialist voters. "I am not here for the position because I would already have it with the PSC, my passion is to collaborate with the people," he makes clear. In fact, he assures that if he were the mayor he would give up his salary and would allocate it entirely to the municipality. "I don't lack money nor do I have too much, but what motivates me is to help the people," he emphasizes after recalling that he resigned as a councilor when he could have remained as an independent. "I left with my head held high," he says.

This is the third signing, for now, from the socialist ranks. And one will be the head of the list for a county capital. This was announced by the party on Saint George's Day, when it was to present its candidate for Barcelona, but it could not do so because the chosen one backed out. This is Eduard Rel, who will be the mayoral candidate in Tortosa. Rel, who was deputy first secretary of the party in the Ebre capital, already ran as number 3 on the Tarragona list in the last parliamentary elections.

Orriols refutes the criticism

According to what the party made public through social networks, Rel defends the need to “recover order, security, and respect”, and advocates for addressing irregular immigration with more control and compliance with the law. Faced with the criticism Silvia Orriols received for putting a politician who came from the PSC at the head of the list, the leader of Aliança stated that she did not care about the political origin of the people joining her party, but rather that they now shared the same project.

The other leader who comes from Salvador Illa's party is the until recently councilor of the PSC in Borredà, Miquel Mendoza, who also left the City Council once he joined Aliança, unlike a long dozen councilors who ran for other parties and have remained in the city councils despite their connection with Aliança. Some of them were also announced on Saint George's Day as mayoral candidates. We are talking about Judith Vinyes, in Berga; Èric Esteban, in Amposta, and Marina Quintana, in Roda de Ter.